A Music Affair: Family Vacation
by Gio Poynter
Summary: A look on Omelia's life as a family and their relationship with their children: Melody, Oliver and Luna. Follows the A Music Affair series, after the AMA: Family Days fic. Alternative Universe.


Owen was exhausted. Between going through a 13 hour flight, taking care of three small children and carrying a bunch of the kids' bags, he was sure he'd never felt so tired.

Walking through the doors of the Copacabana Palace Hotel, the best hotel in the city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Owen sighed in relief, dreaming of finally getting some relaxed time.

After Amelia finished shooting her second season as a mentor of The Voice - where she was making huge success, due to her sincere comments and her loud personality -, she started a worldwide tour that lasted around 2 months. Because of the amount of time away from her family, she decided to have a family trip to Rio, where Amelia would be doing the last concert of her tour.

Choosing to take some time off from work, now that he was experimenting as a producer and trying hard to come up with his own record label, Owen quickly jumped on board at the idea, wanting to enjoy some quality family time, since both he and Amelia had been so busy for the last few months.

"Daaad!" He looked at Oliver, his 4 year old son, who had his arms raised at him. Owen knew his son loved to sit on his shoulder, so he stopped to put the bags on the floor and do as the boy wished as they approached the reception desk of the hotel.

Owen loved that his bond with Ollie was getting stronger each day. He was the blondest of all three children and was really tall for a 4 year old, just like Owen had been as a child. At 4, the boy was already developing a personality: He was quiet most of the time, but loved everything that involved adventures and science fiction, completely obsessed with Star Wars and the Marvel universe. It wasn't something Owen was into, he'd much rather play some sport than sit around playing video games or reading comic books, but he tried his best to watch the movies and cartoons with Oliver, join in some games or listen carefully when his son told him the troubled past of Captain America, for example. So it made Owen really happy to see that Ollie was becoming more attached to him. Although he had always had a tight bond with Melody, they were the only men in the family, so they clearly had to stick together.

Looking to his left side, Owen saw his oldest daughter, who now was 7 years old, jumping up and down with excitement as she grabbed onto the edges of the reception desk. With long and thick strawberry blonde hair, a constant smile and an average size of a 7 year old, Melody had developed quite a character. She was loud and confident, just like her mother, and sometimes even bossy, taking advantage of being the oldest one. Amelia kept on blaming Owen for that last trait of their daughter, claiming he spoiled her too much. But he couldn't help it, Melody was very much a daddy's girl.

Peacefully sleeping with her arms thrown around Amelia's neck was Luna, their youngest. With short blonde hair, small frame and rosy cheekbones, she was already two years old, but was still their little baby, even more to Amelia. The two of them had a special bond that was clear to Owen's eyes. Luna hadn't developed much of a personality yet, but she was always quiet and sweet. The thing she had demonstrated the most interest with was music, playing constantly with the colorful little kids' piano they had at home, which made Amelia squeal with happiness and take a bunch of videos everytime she saw it.

It was December and, although the brazilian weather was very different from the US at that time of the year - which made them all feel very weird -, the interior of the hotel had a bunch of Christmas decorations, including a huge and lit up tree beside the reception desk.

As Amelia took a look around, the receptionist gave Owen the key to their room and led them to the elevators, employees helping them carry their many suitcases all the way. Traveling with kids definitely wasn't easy.

Opening up the door to their room, they all stood there with their mouths open. Owen and Amelia had decided to take the best room the hotel had to offer, since they were more than financially stable, successfully rising in their careers, and they both really needed that trip. Actually, it wasn't a room, it was more of an apartment, with rooms 601 and 602 joined to make it even bigger. Although they had the option and space to put three extra beds for the kids, Amelia thought it was better for all three of them to sleep in the same king size bed, that way they could feel safer at night even without being in their home. It was Luna's first big trip and she wanted to make her daughter comfortable in any way possible.

As soon as they stepped into the apartment, Melody and Oliver began to run around the place to inspect every room over warnings of "Careful not to hurt yourself!" from their parents.

Looking around the place and at Amelia placing a still sleepy Luna on the big couch in front of them, Owen placed the bags he was carrying on the floor and sighed in relief.

"Come here." He pulled Amelia by her hand, smiling as he kissed her on the forehead, imagining the amazing days they were about to live there.

* * *

As soon as they organized their stuff, Owen and Amelia put on their bathing suits and dressed the children to enjoy the private pool they had on the terrace, across a glass door in the living room of the apartment.

Seeing the kids running towards the pool, Amelia quickly stopped them before they jumped in the water.

"Come on, make a line." She motioned to the three of them as she sat down, ready to protect them with sunscreen.

"Hurry up, mom." Melody moaned, excited to jump into the pool in that hot brazilian weather.

"Hey, have some patience, young lady." Amelia reprimanded her. Seeing Owen walking towards the pool, she called him off. "And where do you think you're going?"

"Yeah dad, you can't go in the pool without sunscreen! It's very dangerous for your skin!" Oliver looked at his father like he was crazy for doing it, always being taught by his parents how much sunscreen is important.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, buddy." Owen giggled at Oliver lecturing him, giving him a kiss on the head before standing in front of Amelia for her to put it on his chest and back.

When they were finished, Melody and Oliver excitedly jumped in the water as Amelia sat down on the edge of the pool helping Luna go in with floats around her arms, without taking her eyes from her two oldest children.

"Mel, be careful, please." She warned her daughter, who was playing hard by splashing water on her little brother. Feeling something cold on her back, she turned to see Owen putting sunscreen on her, a smirk on his face.

"You think about us too much and forget about yourself…" He commented, gently putting her hair to one side so it wouldn't be in the way.

"The mom role has taken over me…" She laughed.

"It has indeed." Owen agreed, giggling along. "So... Is that a new bikini?" He bit his lip, looking at her striped white and navy blue bikini, an urge to give her a big kiss right there.

"Oh, you noticed?" Amelia raised an eyebrow and smirked at him, pretending to not know he was gonna react that way to the bikini she had gotten specifically for that occasion. Amelia and Owen had been married for almost 8 years, but she still liked to tempt and seduce him every now and then like they were still at the beginning of their relationship.

"Too bad we can't do anything about it, though." Owen sighed in disappointment, motioning his head to the kids.

"Well, we can always improvise…" She suggested, biting her bottom lip as Owen's face got closer to hers.

"Oh yeah?" He said in a whisper, staring at her lips. "I love some improvisation…"

But, before Owen could kiss Amelia, he heard the kids calling for him.

"Dad! Come play Marco Polo with us!" Melody asked, jumping up and down inside the water.

"Yeah, dad! Come on!" Oliver agreed, smiling widely.

Owen sighed as Amelia giggled at their situation, gave her a quick peck on the lips and jumped in the pool, purposefully splashing water everywhere, making the kids laugh out loud.

After a few hours enjoying the sun and the pool, the family dressed up and went down to the hotel's restaurant to have lunch.

"Hey buddy, what are you playing there?" Owen took a peek at Oliver's Nintendo 3DS in the boy's hands, since he didn't take his eyes away from it. In the little screen, Spider-Man was fighting hard against the bad guys. "So, Spider-Man is from the Justice League, right?" He tried to make small talk with his son, believing he was right.

Oliver paused the game and looked at his father like he was insane and just told him the most absurd thing in the world.

"What?" Owen asked when he saw his son's expression, clueless.

"Dad, Spider-Man is from the Avengers, not Justice League." He spoke slowly for his dad to understand. "The Avengers are from Marvel and the Justice League is from the DC Comics. I'm team Marvel, I don't like DC."

"Oh…" Owen nodded, realizing he had been completely wrong. It was funny, but at the same time embarrassing that he was being lectured by his son.

"And Spider-Man is from the Avengers only in the comics, but not in the movies." Oliver added, matter-of-factly.

It was amazing for Owen to learn a new thing everyday about Oliver and this superhero universe that he loved so much. The boy was addicted to everything that had to do with superheroes, space and videogames, something Owen knew nothing about. Oliver's room was filled with posters and miniatures of the Avengers, the X-men and Star Wars, always creating with his imagination all kinds of adventures for the whole family to participate in the backyard of their house. Everyone always went along with it, making the boy really happy.

Soon, the waiter appeared with their dishes and served the family.

Amelia was helping Luna eat her food when she noticed that Ollie had engaged in a conversation with the waiter.

"You have secret passages here?! Really?!" The boy asked him, his eyes shining with amazement.

"Yes, of course we do." The waiter kindly answered in his brazilian accent, smiling at the boy's excitement. "This is an old hotel, there are passages everywhere, including in this restaurant."

Oliver gasped at the waiter's information, to which the man winked at him playfully and went back to serving the tables.

"Did you hear that, mom? They have secret passages in the hotel!" He commented with Amelia.

"Yeah, I heard that, Ollie. That's very exciting." She giggled, cutting the meat on his plate into small pieces.

"It is!" He sighed, still amazed, before eating his dish. "I wonder what is hidden in them…"

After the family enjoyed their lunch, Oliver whispered to Owen that he really had to pee, following his dad to the men's room right after.

When they were leaving the bathroom, Owen went ahead towards to where Amelia was waiting for them with their daughters, believing that Oliver was right behind him.

"Did you enjoy the pool today, Ollie? We can go again tomorrow…" Owen distractedly asked. Realizing he didn't get any answer, Owen looked around for his son, a serious frown on his face when he didn't find the boy anywhere.

Since Amelia wasn't standing so far away from Owen, she quickly noticed him agitated about something.

"What's wrong?" She asked, going towards him with both girls, one holding each hand of hers. Soon, she realized Oliver was nowhere near her husband.

"I-I had him right here, he left the bathroom with me, I'm sure!" Owen explained to her, trying to convince himself. To be completely sure, he went in the bathroom again, looking in every stall and corner he could find, but still no sign of Oliver.

Seeing Owen come back empty handed from the bathroom, Amelia started to panic, walking around the entire restaurant looking for her son, whilst dragging Melody with one hand and holding Luna in her other arm.

While Amelia got weird looks from customers as she paced around the restaurant searching everywhere for Oliver, Owen started to ask every waiter and employee he could if they had seen his son, explaining his features as best as he could.

When they had searched literally every place in the restaurant, both went to the reception desk to alert the receptionist and demand for the hotel's manager to speak to them.

"You _have_ to close every way out of this hotel right now!" Amelia yelled at the manager's face, who had just arrived and was clarified about the situation.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but that's something we simply cannot do." He spoke slowly, trying to make her understand. "But we're already analyzing our surveillance footage and…"

"Didn't you hear what I said?! My _son_ is missing!" She looked at him like he was insane for denying to do such a thing, her heart beating fast in her chest. She had to find her kid and until then, nobody would be getting in or out of that hotel.

"But ma'am, I…" The manager tried to argue, but was interrupted by Owen pointing a finger at him across the desk.

"You shut the hell up and do as she told you." He raised his voice at the man, an angry and anxious tone clear in it. "Why the hell are you standing there?! Do something!"

Filled by rage and desperation, Owen had raised his voice so loud that everyone around them stayed silent, staring at the family.

"Dad?" He heard Oliver's voice behind them and quickly turned to see the little boy by a man's side; the waiter who had served them in the restaurant, he recognized.

A huge sigh of relief was heard from the couple before they threw themselves to hug Ollie as tight as they could.

"My God, Ollie, where were you?!" Amelia asked him, in an anguish tone of voice, still on her knees, holding him.

"I found him near the kitchen area." The waiter answered her question, a sorry look on his face.

"Oliver Shepherd-Hunt, don't you ever do this again!" Amelia unintentionally raised her voice a little bit to try to make him understand. "You can't run off like this without us, it's dangerous, Ollie!"

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to find the secret passages…" He explained, looking down, upset that his parents were mad at him.

"Look, buddy, we're not mad at you." Owen kneeled down in front of Oliver and spoke in a more contained voice, seeing the sad expression on his son's face. "We just want you to understand that you can't do this, okay? There's bad people everywhere and someone could've taken you away from us or you could've gotten lost."

Oliver looked up to meet Owen's gaze and nodded to let him know he understood now.

"Whenever you want to look for secret passages or anything else, just tell us and we'll go with you or just keep an eye on you." Owen continued. "We're not saying you can't explore the places, we're just saying that you should ask us first, okay?"

"Okay, dad, I understand now." He nodded again.

"Sir, ma'am…" The waiter spoke to them when the couple stood up. "I'm sorry I mentioned those 'secret passages'… I was just trying to entertain him, I swear I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay, it's not your fault." Amelia said, smiling at the man's need to apologize. "I'm glad you found him. Thank you, really."

"Don't do this again, Ollie. I was scared." Melody told her brother before pulling him into a tight hug, Luna quickly joining them.

After giving a big tip to the waiter, the family went out to have a stroll by the beach and enjoy the sunny weather of Rio de Janeiro before Amelia had to meet up with her band and tour manager at the arena they'd be doing the concert on the next day.

Back at their hotel room, it was around 6 pm and Owen was watching TV while the kids quietly played on the carpet in front of him, when Luna came up to her father with an unexpected question.

"Daddy, braid my hair?" She looked at him with those big blue eyes, a face that was very hard to say no to.

"Huh?" Owen raised his eyebrows, unsure if he heard her right.

"Like this." Luna showed Owen the drawing of a little girl with a dutch braid on the fairy tale book she had been looking at.

"Uhm… But I don't…" Before Owen could even think of an excuse to give his daughter, the 2 year old already had turned to her back, giving him her blonde hair, which went all the way to her shoulders.

Quickly glancing to the front door, Owen hoped to see Amelia come back at the right time to save him from that struggle, but sighed after realizing he'd have to do it himself.

Separating Luna's hair in three strands, the only thing he knew how to do, Owen began to twirl them in hopes that it'd end up looking at least a little bit like the one from the drawing.

"That's so wrong, dad." Melody, who had been paying attention on her father and sister's conversation, came up to his side, analyzing his work.

"Well, can you tell me what to do, then?" He looked at his know-it-all daughter, frustrated.

"First of all, you're starting from the bottom, like a regular braid. The one Luna wants is a dutch braid, it's totally different." She explained to him, loosening the messy twirls he had made on Luna's hair.

"Go ahead." He began to get out of the way so Melody could braid her sister's hair, but the girl shook her head in denial.

"No way! She asked for you." Mel crossed her arms in front of her chest, a smug look on her face. "Google 'dutch braid', you'll know what to do. Now, if you excuse me, I'll go back to playing with my dolls."

Owen gave one last glance at Melody before doing as she suggested him, chuckling at how a 7 year old could have such sass and attitude like his daughter had.

After almost 10 minutes trying to do one of the most difficult handmade things Owen had ever done, he was finally finished.

Admiring his job well done and getting a kiss on the cheek as a 'thank you' from Luna, Owen was surprised to see Melody excitedly jumping up and down and pointing at the TV.

"Daddy, look! It's you! On the TV!"

Turning up the TV volume, Owen smiled when he recognized that that was his most recent interview on The Ellen Show, all three kids gathering around him on the couch to watch it.

 _"And here you are!" Ellen greeted him, sitting across Owen on her usual chair. "I've had your wife come over here a few times already, but it's only your second time here!"_

 _"That's right. But I haven't been avoiding you or anything." Owen giggled, defending himself. "I've just been very busy lately, I swear."_

 _"It's okay, I believe you." Ellen laughed. "So, tell us what you've been working on."_

"Hi guys!" Amelia entered the room, greeting her family, without realizing they were all paying attention to the TV. "How was your day?"

"Mom, shh!" Oliver put his index finger in front of his lips, asking her to be quiet.

"What?" She furrowed her brows, confused.

"Daddy's on the TV!" Melody explained, signaling to Amelia to sit with them.

Doing as she was told, Amelia put Oliver on her lap and snuggled close to them on the couch.

 _"Well, I've been working as a producer and composer for many artists on the last couple of years and now I'm working on opening my own record label, which has always been a dream to me." Owen smiled, proud of himself._

 _"Wow, that's a lot of stuff! Very exciting!" Ellen exclaimed. "And amongst all of that, you have your three kids, right? That must be tough." She commented. "How are they, by the way?"_

"She's talking about us!" Melody gasped, excited.

 _"They're amazing, truly the best kids in the whole world." Owen smiled from ear to ear from talking about his kids as a picture of him with Oliver on his shoulders walking along with Amelia pushing Luna's stroller and Melody holding his free hand was displayed on the screen behind him and Ellen._

 _"But, be real with me." Ellen adjusted herself on her seat, smiling at his dope face when talking about his kids. "Aren't they a bit of trouble to take care of? I mean, come on, three small children must be really hard."_

 _"No, not at all." He chuckled, stopping to really think about it. "Well, to be completely honest… Melody causes a little bit of trouble. But Luna and Oliver are very calm."_

 _"And what do they think of you and Amelia being famous and on the spotlight all the time?"_

 _"Well, Luna still doesn't quite understand it, Oliver totally doesn't care, but Melody loves the attention." He laughed._

 _"And how old is Melody now? She's your oldest, right?" Ellen asked._

 _"She's 7. Oliver is 4 and Luna is 2."_

 _"She's 7 already?!" Ellen widened her eyes in shock. "My God, it feels like yesterday you and Amelia came here to announce your first pregnancy!"_

 _"Time goes by really fast, doesn't it?" Owen commented, remembering that pregnancy announcement interview, when they were both so excited to share their news with the world._

 _"It truly does, yeah." Ellen agreed. "And how's Amelia, by the way? Loving the family life?"_

 _"She's great. Amelia's an incredible mom and wife, I couldn't have asked for a better person to be by my side and share these moments with me." Owen answered, causing the audience to 'aw' at his statement._

 _"Years have passed, but you two keep amazing us with how adorable you are." Ellen observed. "You're the definition of 'relationship goals', seriously."_

 _"Well, we're glad to be an inspiration." Owen joked._

 _"Anyway, thank you so much for coming, Owen. And please, come by more often now!"_

 _"I will."_

 _"Owen Hunt, everybody!" Ellen said goodbye to him as he left the stage, waving to the audience._

"That was a great interview, babe." Amelia smiled at him, giving him a kiss on the cheek as a 'thank you' for the kind words he had said.

"You talked about me! On TV!" Melody got on her knees on the couch, pulling her dad's arm in excitement.

"Yes, I did, princess. Did you like it?"

"I loved it, daddy! Thank you!"

"You're welcome, baby." Owen pulled her in for a tight hug, giving Melody a bunch of wet kisses on her cheek.

"Eww, let me out!" She complained, making Owen hug her even tighter.

"I want it too!" Oliver said, jumping from Amelia's lap to Owen's.

"Me too!" Luna shouted, jumping on top of all of them.

Soon, Owen had all three children on top of him, giving him hugs and kisses.

"Oh, now I'm jealous!" Amelia crossed her arms in front of her chest, pretending to be upset.

"Come on, mommy!" Oliver pulled her to join them.

At night, after Owen and Amelia had put the children to bed, they grabbed a couple of fruity non alcoholic drinks the hotel had provided for them and put them on a wooden table in the terrace before throwing themselves on a large hammock that could easily fit the two of them, a few feet away from the pool.

"Alone, at last." Owen sighed, putting his arm around Amelia's shoulder and slowly caressing it with his fingers.

Smiling tenderly, Amelia closed her eyes and nuzzled her head on Owen's chest, her free arm going around his torso, pulling him tight.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Amelia looked up, thinking her husband had fallen asleep, but was surprised to see he had a slight frown on his face while he stared at the dark blue sky above them, his free arm supporting his head.

"What is it?" She frowned too, wondering what was going on in his head.

"Huh?" He looked down to meet his gaze, confused by her sudden question.

"You look like you have a million thoughts going through your head." Amelia pointed out.

"It's just…" He sighed, looking back at the sky. "It's nothing, it's silly."

"Owen…" Amelia narrowed her eyes at him. "Tell me."

"Well, today I offered to tell Melody a bedtime story or sing her lullaby, but she told me she's too old for that." He mumbled, looking irritated. "And then she just took her earphones, put on some music and rolled to her side."

Amelia looked at her husband, trying hard not to laugh at his pissed off expression, like that was such an absurd thing.

"But, babe…" She slowly told him, not containing the little smile on her face. "She is too old for bedtime stories. Mel is seven already."

"But I don't want that!" He groaned, not looking at Amelia. Melody was his first kid, his baby girl, his princess. It was hard to admit to himself that she was growing up and was not his little baby anymore.

"I know it's hard to accept that they're growing up fast, but aren't you curious to see how they'll be like?" Amelia tried to cheer him up, thinking about the future. "Their personalities, their tastes, if they'll be annoying teenagers or not…"

Owen chuckled, imagining their kids as teenagers.

"Melody will definitely be hard to control." He pointed out. Since she was already a bit of trouble as a seven year old, he couldn't even imagine what she'd be like as a teenager.

"See? All of this is exciting, babe." Amelia emphasized. "We still have so many phases of them to go through, it's not like we're losing them."

"Yeah, you're right." He admitted, giving her a half smile as his hands went to caress her dark locks of hair.

"Besides… We still have Luna as our baby, so we can take out all of our neediness on her and she can't complain." She joked, making Owen laugh.

Owen pulled her closer to him and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"It's hard to accept things changing like this."

"Yeah, but in the meantime we can stop worrying about the future and just enjoy the present." Amelia suggested. "Let's not be sad about it ending, let's be glad that we're living it."

"You're very wise today." He lifted up her chin so she could be looking at him, their lips very close to each other.

"Today? I'm wise all the time. Wisdom is something you can count me in." She joked.

"Stop talking and kiss me already, woman." Owen chuckled, finally meeting her lips.

Amelia obeyed and apparently took his words seriously, since she was already deepening their kiss while her fingers ran through his hair, pulling it as things started to get hotter.

Once they both were out of breath from their long kiss, their lips parted, but Amelia realized Owen's eyes were filled with desire as he admired her facial features, a smirk on his lips while he caressed her cheek.

It had been too long since Owen and Amelia had sex. Both of them had been pretty busy with work during the last month, Owen working as a producer and Amelia touring around the world. And, when she was home, they'd plan whole days of going out with the kids, so at night, both of them would be really tired to do anything. The couple hadn't had time for themselves for a long time and they didn't even remember the last time they made out without being interrupted. So, just the touch of their lips in a moment alone like this would ignite huge passion from both of them. The couple knew they had to do something about it and they'd have to do it soon.

"You know, I'm still waiting for our little improvisation since that time at the pool." Owen commented, caressing Amelia's hair. "That new bikini of yours is not something we can simply ignore."

"I knew you'd like it." She said as Owen started to kiss her jawline and neck all the way to her chest. "I bought them thinking of you."

"Good to know." He stopped kissing her skin and got ready to attack her lips again. "So, let's do something about it, shall we?"

Owen kissed her hard on the lips, putting every bit of passion he was feeling in that kiss. As their tongues danced around each other and Amelia's leg pulled his hip even closer to hers, Owen's bulge inside his pants started to get bigger and she could feel it against her lower abdomen. Roaming her hands inside his t-shirt, Amelia pulled Owen's torso towards her, feeling her breasts pressed against his chest.

After Owen sucked and bit on her bottom lip, he made his way with wet kisses on her neck, before sucking on it too, hearing Amelia's breathing get even heavier.

Thinking of the kids sleeping in the other room not that far away from the terrace, Amelia came to her senses.

"Owen…" She breathed out his name, trying to control herself as his lips were going towards her cleavage.

"Amelia…"

"I wish more than anything for us to continue this, but…" She took a deep breath. "We can't do this here. You know one of the kids will probably wake up soon and…"

"Amelia, seriously…" He said, between kisses on her cleavage.

"I am being serious." Amelia said as Owen sighed and lifted up his head to look at her.

"You're gonna drive me insane." He tried to calm down, seeing that it was not going to lead anywhere if he kept insisting, since Amelia's expression proved she wouldn't give in anytime soon. When Amelia put something in her head and made up her mind, nobody could convince her otherwise.

"Fine." He sighed, getting up from the hammock and helping her up as well. "But when are we gonna get the chance to continue from where we left off?"

"Like I said earlier today." She took a sip from her drink. "We can always improvise."

"Or better yet." Owen pulled her body closer to his, so he could whisper in her ear. A smirk on his face. "We could take a time off. Just the two of us."

"Like our monthly date that we used to do after Melody was born?" Amelia bit her bottom lip, excited. After Melody was born, Owen and Amelia had set up to stay in a hotel once a month just the two of them, go out and have some of the most amazing sex Amelia's ever had. With work and more children to take care of, the couple eventually got busy and even forgot about their dates. "The ones that lasted an entire weekend?"

"Just like those." Owen answered, walking with Amelia back to their bedroom.

"Well, I'm excited now." Amelia stopped in front of their bed and turned to Owen, delicately kissing his lips with her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Mommy?"

Luna was standing in the big doorway that separated the living room to Owen and Amelia's bedroom, her small frame contrasting with it. The two year old was wearing pink and white polka dotted pajamas, with bunny slippers on her feet and her monkey stuffed toy held tight against her arm, a single tear falling down her left cheek.

"What did I tell you?" Amelia raised an eyebrow at Owen, loving being right, before going towards her daughter. "What is it, sweetie? Why are you up?"

"Nightmare." She simply answered between sniffs, hugging her monkey tighter when she remembered the awful nightmare she just had.

"It's okay, baby. Me and Daddy are here, alright?" Amelia caressed Luna's blonde hair, putting a few strands behind her ear. "Do you want to sleep with us tonight?"

Getting a gentle nod from her daughter, Amelia picked her up and put her in the middle of the bed between the sheets. Soon, both Owen and Amelia had changed into their pajamas and were snuggling close to Luna. Amelia hummed a song while Owen caressed her tiny hand, soothing her back to sleep.

"At least we still have this little baby." Amelia whispered to Owen after Luna had fallen asleep, admiring the little girl peacefully sleeping between her parents, sucking on her thumb and not letting go of her little monkey with the other hand.

"Let's enjoy it while we still can." Owen said, giving a quick kiss on Luna's forehead before closing his eyes as well.

The next day was the day of Amelia's concert and she had to be at the arena after lunch for soundcheck, leaving Owen to take care of the three kids.

Owen had thought of taking the kids to some of the tourist spots in Rio, but he didn't want Amelia to miss those. So, changing his plans, he took the children for a stroll down the beach in the afternoon, taking pictures of them running and playing with the sand and, when it was almost 6 pm, the time of the concert, he took them to the arena, ready to surprise Amelia.

By the time they arrived at the place, the concert was already in the middle. Watching the show by the side of the stage without letting Amelia see him, he realized Luna had fallen asleep in her stroller even with all the noise whilst Melody and Oliver were being distracted by Amelia's tour manager.

"Thank you so much, everyone" Amelia said to the crowd after one of the songs was over, giving Owen the right cue to surprise her.

"Okay, guys." He kneeled down in front of his two kids, calling their attention. "Are you ready to surprise Mommy?"

"Yeah!" Both of them shouted in excitement.

"Then, go ahead!" Owen said, leading them to the side of the stage.

"So, the next song is an old one…" Amelia was about to introduce her song when she was interrupted by her kids running towards her and hugging her tight. "Oh my God! Hi guys!"

She bent down to hug them back and looked at the direction they came from, smiling brightly at Owen, who was hidden at the side of the stage, the crowd going "aw" with how adorable the scene was.

"And where's Luna? I'm pretty sure I have three children." Amelia joked on the microphone, looking from her kids to Owen, who mouthed a 'she's asleep' as an answer. "Oh, she's asleep? Well, clearly she couldn't care less about my music."

The crowd laughed out loud, taking lots of pictures and videos of that delightful surprise.

"And why the hell are you hiding there?" Amelia asked Owen, talking on the microphone. "Come here, show your face to these lovely people!"

Since some of Amelia's fans were also Owen's fans, they started to shout out for him, who obeyed and took a few steps onto the stage, waving to the crowd, who went nuts.

"Thanks for the surprise, babe." Amelia smiled tenderly at him, then looking at her children, who were still grabbing onto her legs. Melody was curiously looking around while Oliver tried to hide behind Amelia's legs, holding onto them for dear life. "Guys, do you want to say anything to Mommy's fans?"

Amelia put the microphone under Oliver's mouth, but he didn't say anything, scared.

"Can you say 'hi' to them, Ollie?"

"Hi." He quickly said, hiding back behind Amelia's legs.

"Mommy." Melody called her, making Amelia put the mic under her mouth. "Are all of these people here to see you?"

"Yeah, they are!" She answered. "Isn't that cool?"

"It is." Melody smiled, looking at the crowd. "Hi everyone!"

Amelia's fans all replied "Hi" back to Melody before Amelia lead the children back to Owen by the side of the stage, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek as a 'thank you'.

* * *

On the next day, the whole family had just been back from a fun day at the beach, which was just across the street from their hotel, when Owen asked Amelia if they could stop at the reception so he could ask and settle some stuff.

The kids were holding their beach toys and wearing their bathing suits when Melody gathered her siblings to talk in a whisper, a plan forming in her head.

"Okay, so as your fairy queen…"

"But you were a mermaid…?" Oliver noted, furrowing his brows.

"Well, I'm a mermaid who turned into a fairy." Melody explained like it was obvious, annoyed at being interrupted. "So, since I'm your fairy queen, you shall obey me." She smiled big at her use of the word 'shall', something she had read in a book recently.

Oliver and Luna both looked at her, waiting for what they'd have to do. That had become something common between them. Melody had a very creative mind, so she was always creating worlds and mythical creatures for them to play and pretend. And, as always, she liked to be in charge, since she was the oldest sibling. Oliver and Luna didn't care about it, enjoying most of their plays, even so because Luna didn't understand most of the things they were doing, obeying whatever her siblings told her to do.

"So, I'm gonna need something very shiny for me to charge and get my powers back since I used most of them to transform from mermaid to fairy." Melody told them her story, making things up as she went along. "And when I get my powers back, I can finally take us home!"

Oliver and Luna smiled brightly and jumped up and down at Melody's exciting story. As their parents talked with the receptionist, the kids started to look for something bright so Melody could 'charge her powers'.

"Look!" Oliver pointed, happy that he found something. Since it was Christmas season, the hotel's reception was filled with Christmas lights and decorations and Oliver was pointing right at the star on top of the big tree.

"Oh, but that's… That's the star of the tree…" Melody frowned, thinking hard for a bit, since she knew it was an important object. But, not seeing any other thing around them that could replace it and was in their reach, she gave in. "Okay, but we'll have to work together to get this one."

All three of them walked towards the tree, which was beside the reception table, without letting their parents see them.

Lucky for them, the tree was about Owen's size and they could easily get on a chair that was nearby and stretch for the star.

Oliver and Luna pushed the chair to the side of the tree and Melody stood up on it, stretching as hard as she could to reach the star.

"Ollie, you'll have to help me." Melody said, signaling for her brother to come up on the chair with her. Then, the girl grabbed Oliver by the waist and lifted him up so that he could get the star.

But, since the boy leaned on the tree branches to get even higher, the tree started to wiggle until it fell down completely.

With one big gasp from everyone around them, the kids stood frozen in their positions, eyes widened as they knew they had screwed up.

"Oh… My… God." Amelia spoke under her breath, seeing the disastrous scene in front of her. Balls from the tree were shattered to pieces on the floor and her children clearly seemed like the ones to blame. After the moment of shock, she quickly turned to the receptionist, embarrassment evident in her eyes. "I am so, so sorry. I swear we will pay for everything, you don't have to worry about that."

"Uh, it's okay, ma'am… It happens." The receptionist said, the pissed off look on his face not agreeing with the words that came out of his mouth.

"Not with my children, it doesn't." Amelia said, already getting her credit card out of her purse. "Just tell me how much it is and I'll pay."

Owen helped the employees get the tree back up and collect the broken pieces, before turning to his children.

"With me. Now." He spoke, a very strict tone of voice. Turning to Amelia, he informed her. "I'll go have a talk with them back in our room."

"Okay." She nodded. Amelia was usually the one lecturing their kids about bad behaviors, but when they did something really bad, it was usually Owen who'd step up.

The second they arrived in the room, all three children sat on the couch with their heads down, aware of the big lecture they were about to have.

"I cannot _believe_ what just happened." Owen paced back and forth in front of the couch, hands on his head as he thought of what to do with them, stopping in his tracks to look at his children. "What the hell were you three thinking?!"

All three of them stayed quiet, knowing they shouldn't interrupt Owen when he was ranting.

"You have to start thinking about the consequences of your actions!" He continued, raising his voice without even realizing. "Stealing a star from a Christmas tree?! That's not something you can do! That is not our tree, that is the hotel's tree, it's not ours to touch!" He took a deep breath, trying to control himself. Owen was really mad about what they had done, but he knew they were just children, so he shouldn't yell at them. He should tell them right from wrong, that's what he always tried to do as a parent. Sighing, he put his hands on his hips. "And all of those broken balls too… That costs money, guys. You have to start thinking about that."

"I'm sorry, dad." Oliver was the first one to apologize, really sad that Owen was mad at them.

"Yeah, sorry, dad." Melody apologized too.

"Sorry." Luna said.

"Luna, you don't have to do everything your siblings tell you to do. If you don't feel like doing something, you can just say 'no' to them, okay? It was very wrong what you three did and you need to understand that." Owen told her, then turning to his son. "Oliver, I thought you were better than this. You're really smart, you have to start telling right from wrong."

Then, he turned to Melody, sighing deeply.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Melody." He said, a mad look on his face. "You're the oldest sibling! You have to set an example for them, you need to take care of them! I expect better behavior from you from now on. That is not how I raised you to be."

Feeling like he was done with his lecture, he looked at all three of their sad faces, no one daring to say a word to him.

"And all three of you won't be allowed to play on the iPads until I say so." Owen told them their punishment, to which the children finally lifted up their heads and widened their eyes.

"No!" Oliver moaned in complaint, quickly silencing himself when he saw the look of 'don't even' on Owen's face.

"Now, go to your room and get ready to take a shower. You're all filled with sand." Owen said and they obeyed, quickly forming a line to the bathroom.

At night, when Amelia and Owen were already in bed talking, they heard a knock on the wooden doorway of their bedroom and turned to see Melody standing there with her pink pajamas, her bottom lip trembling as she was about to start crying.

"Honey, what is it?" Amelia quickly sat up, afraid that something might've happened by the look on her daughter's face.

Melody approached their bed and couldn't control her tears anymore.

"I'm so sorry… I was a terrible sister… It was all my fault!" She said, between sniffs. "Don't punish Luna and Ollie, I told them to do it… Just blame it on me."

Amelia and Owen exchanged looks, a mix of pride and compassion in their eyes.

"Mel, come here." Owen patted the bed, telling her to sit between them. Then, he started to explain the situation to her, a gentle tone on his voice. "Although you may have told them to do it, your siblings still could've said no. But they didn't. That's why they're also being punished. You're all different people and you have free will. They could've realized that it was wrong and refuse to do it, you understand what I mean?" She nodded, tears still falling from her eyes as she looked down to her legs crossed. "The reason I said all those things to you three is because I needed you to know that everything you do in life has consequences."

Melody nodded again and stayed silent for a few seconds, then lifting up her head to look at Owen in the eyes.

"But you're disappointed in me?" Melody pouted, repeating the words her dad told her earlier, what stuck with her throughout the entire day and made Melody get up and go to her parent's room. The thought of Owen not 'liking' her anymore made Melody really upset.

Amelia looked at Owen, her heart clenching in her chest at seeing her daughter so sad.

"In that moment I was, indeed. 'Cause what I saw was you not being a good big sister." He admitted, staying serious and explaining to her, other than just hugging and kissing her, like Amelia would probably do. "But you coming to us and taking the blame for your siblings filled me with pride, Melody. That was an honourable thing to do, really."

"So, you're not mad at me anymore?" She asked as he dried the tears on her face with his thumb.

"You're all still grounded." Owen made sure she knew that even though he was impressed by her apology, they still had done something wrong and the punishment stayed the same. "But no, I'm not mad at you."

"I love you, daddy!" Melody threw herself in his arms, a big smile on her face. Seeing Amelia smiling at the scene by their side, Melody pulled her in for that hug too. "I love you too, mommy!"

"So, you're not mad?" Oliver stood with Luna by the doorway, having heard everything of their conversation. The pout on his lips clearly implicating he wondered if they could join the hug.

"Come here, you two." Owen smiled at them, with his open arms.

It was moments like those, that even after the lectures and tough parenting moments the love between the family stayed the same, that made Owen and Amelia filled with joy and gratefulness.

That night, all three of their children slept in the king size bed with them. With the kids sleeping peacefully between them, the couple just smiled at each other before closing their eyes, a feeling of pride and love hitting both of them, even though their kids had just knocked down a Christmas tree.


End file.
